My Mate Marmite

I've been living in Hungary for quite a long time now. But while I've got my favourite foods and snacks from Hungary (turo rudi for instance), I still get a craving every now and then for a taste of home.

I weaned myself off the standard English expat fare mainly by not knowing a lot of other English expats when I first came here and also not going back and forth between the two countries that often.


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For some reason, I've been getting the odd pang of hunger for some quintessential British culinary items. I think the blame can be placed squarely on the heads of two people at my work who now visit the UK every few weeks and always ask if I want something brought back.

This means that I'm stocked up on Marmite and Cheddar cheese along with Computer Shopper and Top Gear magazines. Sadly I don't think I could get away with asking for several barrels of John Smiths.

For those that have an even stronger slavering for a slice of home food there's always some small specialty shops that deal in these rare goods. The downside is of course the price you pay.


The most well known of the shops in Budapest I think has to be Culinaris. There's one in the 6th district on Hunyadi tér and another in Buda's 3rd district at Perc utca, though strangely, I've never been in either of them. Although the shops have been at the back of my mind for a while, they were brought to my attention recently by the lovely lady who surprised me with a packet of my coveted salt and vinegar Walkers crisps.

There's a few other shops where the trade in these UK treasures can be found. Quite often, shops that deal with special spices will have a small section dedicated to the expat community. I popped into an Indian shop the other week on Wesselenyi utca, where upstairs was full of Indian furnishings while downstairs was a small supermarket, which as well as normal Indian flavourful food, also had PG Tips, ginger beer and export strength Guinness.

Then again, sometimes you don't have to wander far at all to find these things. Just the other day at my local, standard yet tin CBA shop I noticed that they were selling promotional packets of Tetley Tea. 100 bags + a "free" mug for just under 1,000 Forints. A bit pricey but if you're desperate for decent tea, you might just pay it. It's all a matter of taste.


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Tags

Unfortunately, I'm not writing about the tag labels that categorise blog posts and news stories. Some little git (I find it hard to believe it was done by anyone over the age of 6 9 13 17) has tagged our building with crappy graffiti scrawl.

I'd still be annoyed if it was the decent, creative and colourful art that adorns a lot of underpasses but this is an especially unimaginative, untalented 5 second spray that stands out a mile on the blank yellow canvas that is our house.


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Worse still, now that we've been tagged the likelihood of it happening again has greatly increased. If the offending mark is painted over, it challenges the original ratboy (or ratgirl) to do it again. They've marked their territory and they have to reclaim it. On the other hand, if we leave it there, it's a sign to other taggers to go ahead and try to outdo each other with bigger and better aerosol autographs.

I can't help thinking that it has something to do with the renovated park close by and the increase in skateboarding activity. Oh and they love those flat wooden benches to catch a bit of air and end in a slide (slides being different from grinds). Won't be long before the seats are just a table of splinters.

I sound like a mean, old man, I know. To be honest, I have nothing against the skaterrats in the park. They seem reasonably well behaved and don't really get in the way or make people feel threatened. But I hope they stick to the skateboards and leave the scrawl alone.


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Historical Flags

Staying on the subject of protests from the last post, I thought I'd write a few words on the Arpad flag. Although the flags with the "Arpad stripes" date back 700-1000 years they are fairly new to me. Even after living in Hungary for over a decade this is something I had never seen until last year. It was only when protestors started gathering at parliament and waving them around did I start to notice the different flags.

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Of course there was also the now standard Hungarian flag with the center torn out that turns up at almost every rally. The same used in the 1956 uprising when the communist symbol was ripped out. People use this flag today to express their feelings that something is wrong at the core of the country, namely the government.

The Arpad flag is somehow different. This one isn't waved by small children or little old ladies as the holey flag is. The Arpad stripes have more sinister connotations. Unless I'm very much mistaken, it has become the de facto flag for very right-wing protests, and it's slightly scary.

This is the flag that was picked up by the definitely scary Arrow Cross , a political party based pretty much on the incredibly scary German Nazi party. The Arrow Cross killed thousands of Jews with a lot of the victims being shot and dumped into the Danube river. For a sad reminder of this, just take a stroll by the water next to the parliament building to see a statue comprised of lots of iron shoes set into the ground to commemorate those that died there.

While displaying the Nazi's swastika and the Arrow Cross' arrows are forbidden, flags with the Arpad stripes are still okay to wave around in public. So with it's background and the fact that a lot of the flag bearers are bomber-jacketed skinheads with the odd SS tattoo, I think it's quite healthy for me to be wary of these groups.

I intend to stay healthy, which is why, if I see a bunch of people with Arpad flags, I'll walk the other way.

-- You can read a perhaps more balanced view at Portfolio.

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Breaking Down Barriers

There was another bout of political poo-pooing on Friday and over the weekend. Since the riots last September, Kossuth tér - the square where parliament is situated - has been closed to the public. There were protestors camped outside for a while but I think they all got moved on a couple of weeks ago. Some people would come to the barriers and mope around a bit and shout but it seemed to be dying down.

Whether the barriers are a good thing or not is hard to say. On the one hand, it would be good to keep an angry mob away from the nation's big house. On the other hand, the barriers also serve to remind people that there's a restriction of freedom in place.

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On Friday, the opposition party thought it would be a good idea to remove the barriers themselves. So complete with their leader they set about dismantling the cordon. Bemused and unsure, the police that were on watch, just watched. It all made for a good bit of media and so the cameras were out and the speeches were made. Later, there was a lot of huffing and puffing about whether the action was legal or illegal. Or better still, was it right or wrong?

Of course, with the increase in media interest, the protestors came back. With their flags and megaphones they were enthusiastic in exercising their freedom of speech.

All this is fine, but I can't help thinking that the leader of the opposition holding a meeting in front of the parliament and then (perhaps illegally) removing the barriers in front of an eager camera crew is not good for business. Surely you're going to keep or gain credibility with a good debate about why the current government is making a big mistake by keeping the railings up.

By going ahead and getting stuck in without debate, without warning, surely the message to the people believing in you is that the only option available is direct action and forget about the legalities.

People learn from example and this wasn't a good one.


* Images taken from VG.hu

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Car and a Half

Somehow I don't think I can do this post justice. The Trabant is such an iconic car that it is loved and loathed in equal measure often both by the same person.

Coming from the UK, it's easy for me to think of this as a "quaint" car that fits into the stereotype of Eastern Europe. Yes, I know we're more Central Europe than Eastern Europe but this is the car that's associated with Eastern bloc and was on shown on everyone's TVs in the West as everyone tried to get out of the East when the wall came down.

For some people, it's a symbol of the crap they had to put up with. For others, it's freedom on four wheels and a bit of plastic-wrapped plywood*. For me, while I know they're not that comfortable or good to drive, I absolutely love the design of the body and think it's a classic to be awed and adored. Right up there with other simple but clever designs such as the Mini.


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Because they're so cheap and there's quite a few floating around, they can often be seen pimped above and beyond their normal duty. I've seen bright purple ones with alloys and spoilers. I've seen them chopped up in to cabriolets. I've also seen them covered in moulded plastic to make it into a auto-dog (or maybe that was a Rover).

I saw this a while ago on Andrassy and couldn't resist taking a pic. Someone had used half a Trabant to create a trailer for another Trabant. It looked like a loving conversion with a quality finish. The tired Trabant has been written a death warrant many a time with newer, trendier cars coming onto the market and environmental regulations damning its 2-stroke engine, but with affectionate Trabbie lovers like this out there, I think we'll be seeing them around for a little while yet.


* From that link - Duroplast cannot be further recycled, and burning it produces toxic fumes, so disposing of the bodies of old Trabants is a problem. However, Duroplast's components are edible, and there are stories of pigs, sheep or other domestic farm animals consuming duroplast.

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Pedestrianitis

For my area it started with the building, or rather digging, of the underground garage in front of the Basilica. Before that, the space was just a plain car park with doggy doo lurking around every tyre.

Once the funky, robot, underground garage was created, the surface was turned into a very pleasant cobble-stoned square.

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From this little acorn of an area, the pedestrian zones have spread. At first they claimed a small section of Hercegprimas utca. Then a smidgen of Sas utca. Now the powers that be are expanding the Hercegprimas stretch and zooming down Zrinyi to complete a walkway from the dome of the temple to the banks of the Danube.

It may have something to do with linking up the ultra-posh Four Seasons located in the old Gresham Palace at the end of Zrinyi, but I think the whole project will improve the 5th district and get people wandering up and down. Of course, it'll bring life to those streets as well as shops and cafes brighten themselves up to take advantage of the new thoroughfare.

So here's to pedestrianitis, the uncontrollable growth of pedestrianized streets, and may there be a cafe on every corner to sip a hosszu kave (in a glass) and watch the world go by.


* If this post contains mistakes or is generally crappy, I apologize and rest the blame on the beers and unicum consumed just a few hours before. At least the were good. However, this must be one of the freshest pics on the blog as it was taken just a few minutes before arriving home and writing this article.


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Avenue Activists

It looks like not everyone is happy with the work being done to Nagymező. The signs advertise a meeting to be held on the Saturday of last weekend at the church on the corner of Nagymező and Király.






The posters from protesters are warning people that the trees on the avenue shouldn't be turned into toilet paper and they should be left alone so that they can be seen in real life and not just in photos.

I'm not sure if the meeting took place or not last weekend but it seems that maybe it wasn't necessary anyway. According to the news, it's unlikely that the underground garage that was planned will go ahead.

As I've said before, I'm all for underground parking spots but I also like my trees. Hopefully we can have both without building projects being turned into petty political spats.

An Apple A Day

I'm not sure it they are keeping the doctors away but one of our neighbours (probably not the one with the cat) has laid out a selection of apples on top of the kitchen appliances stored abandoned in our corridor.

A phrase I often hear from people in this city is that Budapest is a village. That's not meant to be a slur on the size or sophistication of the capital. The fact is that as I live my day to day life in Budapest I'm continually bumping into people I know. Or if I meet someone new, it's quite likely that I'll find out that they're connected to some other people I know from a completely different part of my life.

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It's been said that there is six degrees of separation in the world. Meaning, any person in the world can find a connection to any other person in the world by hopping through 6 people. I have a feeling that in Budapest it gets pared down to 3. It really can be freaky sometimes.

The apples seemed to me to be a more literal aspect of the village theme. I live smack-bang in the centre of the capital city that is Budapest, yet someone has been harvesting apples and setting them out in the cool corridor until they need them.

Incidentally, the apples are disappearing one by one, so the theory of the neighbour making one large batch of almakompót (apple sauce) or almasajt (erm... apple cheese) has been scratched. But the remaining apples must be scared out of their pips wits thinking about who's going to go next.


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Vörös és Fehér is Klassz

Vörös és Fehér was a great little restaurant in the 6th district on Andrassy. It served tasty meals with an emphasis on quality wine. The menu was a bit pricey so I had only been when someone else was paying.

It was here that our group from the office gatecrashed a wine tasting evening (turned out pretty good) and also saw a naked woman with painted on clothes strolling down Andrassy on a weekday lunchtime while we were entertaining visitors from out of town. Needless to say, they were entertained.

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Hello Everybody my name is Klassz. I will be a restaurant and a winery one day when I will be ready. I offer you beautiful, tasty food and nice wine. Please feel free to come in! R.







Sziasztok! az én nevem Klassz. Etterem és Borozo leszek ha egzsyer kész leszek! Már megnyitottam finomat főzök és jó borokat szolgálok. Gyertek be! R.

So it seems that Vörös és Fehér is dead and in it's place is Klassz. Though peeking into the place shows no real difference to the interior and according to the writing on the wall windows, the aim is the same. Premium food with a leaning towards the wine rack.

I'll take a look at the menu if they pop one out onto the street and perhaps suggest it for a bit of experimentation but other than that I'll probably leave it to chew to review.


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A Crappy Quickie

Just a crappy quickie to keep my daily postings record. I find that setting aside 30 minutes in the morning around breakfast time means I push out a post no problem. Until I don't have 30 minutes in the morning, then it all turns pear-shaped.

Seeing as I'm running out of time for this Wednesday, I thought I'd share something that I hope isn't becoming a trend. There's quite a bit of feces involved. Basically in the span of less than a week, I've trodden in a huge pile of doggy doo, been shat on by a pigeon and a neighbour's cat left a little pungent package for us on our doormat.


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Out of all the above, the doggy doo must have been the worst. It was just after a hike of several hours over the Buda hills. We'd reached civilization and as I took my first steps on the pavement, I almost slipped head over heels in something that must have been left by Dogzilla. As I was wearing my walking boots with chunky grip, it took me ages to get the damn things clean and sweet smelling.

I consider the pigeon dropping droppings fairly lucky. There's always the "could have been worse" thought that crosses my mind. I was lucky it wasn't a few centimetres to the left where it would have hit me smack on the head instead of on my sleeve. I was also lucky that I noticed it just before I went to wipe my forehead with said sleeve. It washed off easily and didn't smell. Definitely lucky that dogs don't fly.

Then there was the cat from a few doors down our corridor. Cute little playful kitten that meows outside our door when it feels like playing. Perhaps because I wasn't at home and able to play that it took offence and left a little message for me for when I got back. Oh well, at least it was solid.


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Filming in Budapest (V)

It seems that Budapest is Hell to some people. Perhaps that explains the warm weather we've been having. Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro and crew are said to be filming the sequel to Hellboy in Budapest, cunningly titled Hellboy 2.

Now I thought Hellboy was one of the worst films I've ever watched. For me, it was so bad it was fascinating and I had to watch right to the end to see if there were any redeeming features and to test my endurance. But I'll admit, I never heard about the Hellboy comic character until the film so if people tell me I'm missing the point, then I'll probably agree.

There's not a lot of info about the second film and I'm not sure if they're really shooting in Budapest or out in the sticks at Etyek. However, if you see some mutant creatures running down the streets like all Hell has broke loose, it probably has. That or the stag & hen season has started early.

The Scottish Pub

It's not the Scottish Play so I think that I can mention its name, Caledonia. The pub opened up at the tail end of 2006 and has already built up a good reputation and a lively crowd of regulars.

Situated just off Jokai tér on Mozsar utca, the bar is very central and easy to get to. You just need to know it's there as most people forget that the tiny Mozsar utca even exists.

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I wouldn't say I'm a local there but I've popped in for the occasional pint and chat with friends. Yes, they really do sell some of the beer in pints, which probably violates some EU law but seeing as a pint is 0.568 litres I don't think anyone will be complaining. Oh, and I'm talking about the good old fashioned Imperial Pint as opposed to that new fangled US pint which equates to a mere 0.473 litres.

The staff are warm and welcoming but the best thing about the whole place is that they sell Belhaven Best Bitter (in pints!) which tastes utterly delicious and reminds me of the great bitters back in Blighty. The best bit about the Best is that instead of charging some rip-off price (like Birdland charging 380ft for a 0.25 bottle of water but that's another story), a pint of this lovely liquid will set you back 600ft. Which, although more expensive than most beers, is not that far off from a watered down Dreher from Mediterran in Liszt Ferenc tér on the other side of Andrassy.

While I've been going on about the beer, I've neglected to mention the fact that they also do great food (so people tell me). I can't find a proper Caledonia website but their menu does appear on an xpatloop page. The steaks, burgers and all-day Scottish breakfasts have all been recommended to me.

So, they've got the food and drink covered and they've also covered the walls with a smattering of flat TVs for the sports fans. Oh, and it seems that Thursday nights is karaoke night. Karaoke isn't "my thing" but people were having a lot of fun and that's good in my book.

If you're around Liszt Ferenc tér and looking for an alternative option. Cross over Andrassy and stroll down Mozsar. You'll find a fantastic pint of beer down there.


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Blustery Budapest

The sun has risen and a new day has begun. The world didn't end after all, which is what seemed would happen according to the number who warned me about the storms coming into Hungary last night.

I realise that, yes, the winds were pretty windy over a lot of Northern and Western Europe. They were strong enough to kill people with falling trees and blowing lorries off course.

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Hungary also recently messed up when the last bit of really bad weather blew in on St Stephens day last year. As it was a holiday the weathermen were taking it easy, people from all over the country had traveled up to Budapest to see the fireworks on along the Danube. Then the storm hit and people died.

To try to prevent the same happening again, it seems that the media went into a frenzy over the approaching Armageddon and every single Hungarian I met yesterday mentioned it to me. They suggested that I leave work early so I didn't get caught in it, get hit by trees, roofs, flying cows etc. I appear to have survived and according to the news, no Hungarians were killed by the thing so hopefully it's all blown over now.


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